Trump’s choice on a replacement UN ambassador is complex
The President decided to yank Elise Stefanik’s nomination because of the slender Republican majority in the House
Jacob Heilbrunn
Jacob Heilbrunn is editor of The National Interest. He lives in Washington DC
Thursday
Monday
The ‘government by groupchat’ scandal should cost Mike Waltz his job
The National Security Advisor accidentally added the editor of the Atlantic to a message thread in which Houthi air strikes were planned
Wednesday
Has Putin played Trump?
From our UK edition
24 min listen
Russia and Ukraine have launched air attacks on each other, hours after Vladimir Putin told Trump that Russia would stop targeting Ukrainian energy sites. Has Putin outplayed Trump? And will Trump regret bringing Europe’s militaries back to life? Deputy and US editor Freddy Gray is joined by Americano regular and author Jacob Heilbrunn to discuss.
Cosying up to Putin has weakened Trump’s hand in Europe
From our UK edition
Once upon a time, America practiced ping-pong diplomacy to try and improve ties with Mao’s China. Now Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are talking about organising hockey matches in America and Russia to bolster relations. Given that the two sides would be playing in ice rinks, it would be hard to say that Russia, which
Sunday
Trump has elevated the Houthis as an opponent
The cold, hard truth is that air strikes have seldom proven lethal enough to decapitate rebel movements and regimes in the Middle East
Tuesday
Trump and Elon’s White House Tesla auto show
The President suddenly likes Tesla, just as it goes out of fashion.
Friday
All along Trump’s aim has been to dispose of Zelensky
The truth is that the president choreographed his break-up with Ukraine quite well
Thursday
Trump plays the joker with Starmer
From our UK edition
Donald Trump was in a jocular mood as he met with Keir Starmer, barely allowing the Prime Minister to get in a word in edgeways during their joint appearance in the Oval Office. ‘Did I say that? I can’t believe I said that,’ he mused after a reporter queried whether he continued to regard Volodymyr
Sunday
The AfD will be a thorn in Merz’s side
From our UK edition
Alice Weidel, the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, didn’t mince her words. Speaking immediately after the German federal election on national television in Berlin on what’s known as ‘the leaders round’, she claimed that the mainstream conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) merely won a ‘pyrrhic victory’. Its head, Friedrich Merz, had no real
Wednesday
Tulsi caps off a big day for ‘realism and restraint’ in foreign affairs
The former Democratic congresswoman suffered an acute case of what’s known in Washington as ‘confirmation conversion’
Tuesday
Trump’s inner real-estate developer targets Gaza
Who knew that America’s Manifest Destiny stretched all the way to the Levant?
Friday
A pleasant respite from the tumult in Cambridge
It’s far from clear that Great Britain, or Europe, for that matter, can provide a sanctuary from Trump
Monday
How radical will Donald Trump be?
From our UK edition
If Donald Trump, as Scott Jennings observed on CNN, is at the ‘apex of his political power,’ then what comes next? In his inaugural address, Trump vowed that ‘American decline’ had ended and a ‘golden age of America’ was about to begin. He essentially embraced what amounted to a form of liberation theology. ‘Liberation Day,’
The quarrelling coalition behind Donald Trump
From our UK edition
Like Ronald Reagan in 1985, Donald Trump is bowing to the elements and moving his inauguration indoors to the Capitol Rotunda, where only 500 guests can squeeze in to attend the ceremony. But that development isn’t putting a damper on the spirits of the tens of thousands of Trump followers who have traveled to Washington.
Wednesday
Donald Trump’s plans sound… interesting
From our UK edition
No one can accuse President-elect Donald Trump of failing to be transparent about his intentions and plans. Speaking at a lengthy news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump promised to rename the Gulf of Mexico the ‘Gulf of America’. He also refused to rule out employing military force to reclaim the Panama Canal and to seize Greenland. He did,
Monday
What is Trump 2.0 going to do with the world?
From our UK edition
25 min listen
Freddy Gray sits down with Jacob Heilbrunn, a longstanding friend of Americano to discuss Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to send long range missiles into Russia, how significant this decision is ahead of an incoming Trump administration, and what the rest of foreign policy could look like with Trump.
Thursday
Are we about to see Trump unleashed?
From our UK edition
32 min listen
Kamala Harris has delivered her concession speech, signalling the start of the Democrat post-mortem. Donald Trump has secured a total victory, the kind which gives him a mandate to make some pretty radical reforms. Americano guest host Kate Andrews is joined by Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of The National Interest, to discuss what a second Trump term
Tuesday
Kamala shows her stern side in NBC interview
‘I’m not going down that rabbit hole with you right now’
Wednesday
J.D. Vance made the case for Trump better than Trump
From our UK edition
Tim Walz versus J.D. Vance was the anti-Trump debate. There were no references to the animal kingdom in this Vice-Presidential debate. There were no sharp attacks about abortion. There were no vituperative comments about a lack of character. There weren’t even any assessments of golf handicaps à la Joe Biden and Donald Trump during their first debate.
Friday
Ukraine becomes another battlefront in the American election
It looks like Trump has a trombone mind — unless, of course, he wants to go over Zelensky’s head, betray Ukraine and announce a peace deal
